A conventional electronics test facility includes three basic instruments--a data acquisition device (e.g., oscilloscopes, multimeters, etc.), a signal generator and a power supply. The signal generator provides test signals to test circuits so that output signals may be generated by the test circuits, in which the data acquisition device measures the output signals from the test circuits, and the power supply supplies power to the test circuits.
It is known to situate a conventional data acquisition device on a single circuit board which can be positioned in a dedicated box to be connected to a personal computer or can be positioned directly in a communication slot of the personal computer. However, the data acquisition devices and power supplies were previously not placed on a single circuit board (along with other desired components).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,287 describes a portable data collection device capable of sensing voltage, resistance and current data in a digital form or in an analog form. The data collection device includes a housing, a processor for controlling input and output information corresponding to the sensed information, a storage device storing the information, a serial port and an internal power source. There is no indication in this publication, however, that this portable data collection device is disposed on a single circuit board along with a power source.
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide presently available components economically on a single circuit board so that test circuits can be easily tested using a standalone device connected between a digital computer and the test circuit, or by connecting this arrangement between an internal connection slot of the digital computer and the test circuit.